RECAP: Capitals 6, Panthers 3

WASHINGTON D.C. – In a battle between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals rode a three-goal third period to a 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

While the Panthers fall 42-25-3, the Capitals improve to 47-15-8 with a league-best 102 points.

“We’re just going to have to regroup, reset, and move on after that one,” said Sam Bennett.

Coming off a defensive 1-0 overtime win on Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the first period in D.C. was a complete barnburner.

Finding himself on a breakaway early, Connor McMichael put the Caps ahead 1-0 at 3:15 of the first period.

Answering back at 6:35, after a bounce off the boards put goaltender Logan Thompson in a vulnerable spot, Mackie Samoskevich set up Bennett for essentially an empty-net goal to make it 1-1.

Then the craziness started.

In a span of 3:03, the Panthers and Capitals scored a combined four goals.

Deflecting off a skate on a slapshot at 12:24, John Carlson put the Capitals ahead 2-1.

Getting his first as a Panther to make it 2-2, Seth Jones responded with a big slap shot at 13:56.

Putting the Caps back ahead, Anthony Beauvillier got behind the defense and beat Vitek Vanecek to make it 3-2 at 14:56.

"We just gave up too many odd-man rushes,” said Bennett. “They were coming with a lot of speed through the neutral zone, and I think we just too many times let them get in.”

Topping off the back-and-forth first period, Jonah Gadjovich snapped in a pass from Nico Sturm to even the score at 3-3 at 15:27.

Per NHL Stats, Florida had three tying goals in a period for the first time in franchise history and became the first team in the NHL to do so since 2018.

Not the start of the second the Panthers wanted, the Caps struck twice in the first 59 seconds.

Netting a breakaway seven seconds into the period, Tom Wilson made it 4-3.

“They came out hot in the second period and I guess we just kind of weren’t ready,” said Gadjovich. “There was still plenty of game left to answer back, but we just didn’t quite have it there in the second half.”

Adding another, Dylan Strome put in a pass from Alex Ovechkin to make it 5-3 at the 59-second mark.

Giving the Capitals more insurance, Andrew Mangiapane extended the lead to 6-3 at 5:57.

Putting on pressure of their own, the Panthers outshot the Caps 13-9 in the period.

Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers had a 51.61% offensive advantage in the second period, but were unable to counter in the frame.

Unlike the first forty-minutes, the third period was far more uneventful.

Unable to cut into their deficit, the Panthers fired off 14 shots on goal over the final 20 minutes.

In defeat, Florida led 73-57 in shot attempts and 30-28 in scoring chances.

“We’ve had a couple of tough nights here on this road trip,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “We’d like to play .500 or better (on the road), we failed to do that, but we won’t fold the season.”

THEY SAID IT

“We’re a pretty mature group and we’ve been in this position before.” – Sam Bennett on playing in important games

“He’s a great guy and great player as well, We’re so happy to have him and his leadership around the locker room.” – Jonah Gadjovich on Seth Jones

“He’s a guy that’s had to scratch and claw his way into the league. He plays with just about everybody. Pretty dynamic. Usually in the very big games is when I think his best game comes out.” - Paul Maurice on Carter Verhaeghe’s 400th career game

CATS STATS

- The Panthers went 2/2 on the penalty kill

- Seth Jones had a team high 24:45 time on ice

- Sam Bennett and Evan Rodrigues each had four shots

- The Panthers outhit the Capitals 43-22

- Nico Sturm recorded his first point as a Panther

WHAT’S NEXT?

Ovechkin to Crosby.

Completing the back-to-back, the Panthers will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

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